


Cuddles + petting + nuzzles

by Lunar_L



Series: L'âge de L'amour [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cat tendencies, F/M, depression doesn't need a reason, friends can cuddle, so does cuddles, talking helps, you can be sad just because you're sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 15:13:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15003608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunar_L/pseuds/Lunar_L
Summary: Marinette knows Chat well enough to know when he's happy, when he's faking being happy and when he really just needs to curl up on someone's lap and be cuddled.





	Cuddles + petting + nuzzles

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'm really behind on these. I probably won't finish all of Marichat May but I will definitely finish L'âge de L'amour before June is out.

It was another one of his “down days” again.

Marinette watched from her balcony lounger, embroidery hoop in hand, as Chat continued to fake a smile while he tensely sat atop the little table in front of her. Once again the smile was less than his usual toothy grin and yet it wasn’t quite soft enough to be a natural lifting of the corners of his mouth, which he sometimes used in lieu of a full smile. This was something she’d become intimately accustomed to as Ladybug on patrols over their partnership – days when Chat’s mind was working against him, a thing he refused to admit happened at times. Instead, he would plaster on a smile -one which was truly convincing as long as you didn’t know him very well- and flirt with her until her melodramatic reactions and long-suffering sighs made him smile more genuinely.

The trouble was that Chat didn’t flirt with Marinette. Or, at least, not as open and obviously. Instead, he teased her softly. He made the sweetest off-hand comments about her being pretty or amazing and talented and then had the audacity to act like he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. He got playful and batted at her pigtails, just like a cat would, and now that he knew hugs were totally okay with her, he often took full advantage to snuggle into her warmth.

Lately cuddling had become a sort of a guilty pleasure for the both of them. It was still awkward to think about but whenever Chat hugged her tight, it would quickly transition from a gentle squeeze to them lying down -on her chaise, or her lounger, or her bed even- his chest against hers and nose nuzzling into the crook of her neck as she pet his hair while he purred. Neither of them ever mentioned it, as if it was a sort of taboo topic, but conversely neither ever acted as if it was anything but normal. They always broke apart slowly and peacefully, Chat attempting to tame his hair back into a much more controlled mess like he usually wore it pre-petting, whilst they went straight back to chatting like nothing had happened.

Which was basically how he handled every little move or comment he made around her. Everything he did was very much flirty behaviour, but more subtle than she was used to as Ladybug. He was definitely friendly but went further than that without ever over-stepping any boundaries she might have set. She was also pretty sure he never even noticed how his own cheeks blushed whenever he cheekily teased or complimented her. Maybe he genuinely thought he was acting as normal friends did, but then she hoped God would help the poor girls he hung out with in his real life - because she was barely able to avoid becoming flustered when he became all cuddly and she wasn’t even interested in him. But she knew undoubtedly, there would be a girl somewhere who  _adored_  the other side of Chat and who probably became a puddle of goo every time he so much as put his arm around her. Marinette certainly didn’t envy her.

And that was what confused her. Because if he’d acted like this towards her when they first met, he might have been the boy she fell for instead. He was so much sweeter and more relatable when trying to be over-friendly with her civilian side than when he tried to get her alter-ego’s attention. Whenever he flirted with Ladybug, it was always with such over-the-top flair and had a hint of showmanship about it, as if he were competing against someone else - not for her affections but for scores set by an imaginary group of judges watching from somewhere hidden from sight.

She snickered to herself as she imagined being on that panel as well, face completely deadpan and holding up a sign amongst the others which showed simply a thumbs down emoji in response to a ridiculous pun. Chat’s ears pricked a little at the sound of her laughter and his head tilted as he looked at her in an unspoken question. “It’s nothing,” she told him with a giggle, “Random silly thought.” His lips pulled up further in clearly faux humour and her smile faltered as she once again spotted the tension in the way he sat and the stiffness of his grin. “What’s wrong?” she asked gently.

Chat’s brow creased instantly and his eyes widened a little, whether in panic or shock - she wasn’t sure. “Nothing’s wrong, Marinette. What makes you think-”

“Come on, Chat. I haven’t known you long now, but I like to think I’ve gotten to know you quite well. What’s happened to upset you?” His eyes flitted away from her as she finished speaking, his teeth biting little dimples into his bottom lip with worry. “Chat,” she said softly, “Tell me, please. I care about you.”

The intense concentration in his eyes mellowed at last. “I…I suppose you do.” He glanced at her tenderly and finally,  _finally_  he smiled for real. The sight left Marinette chest feeling very warm and her stomach pleasantly squirmy. “It’s nothing really,” he said, “I told you once before. I just get down sometimes. Like today.”

It was true. He wasn’t sure exactly what was making him feel so melancholy, all he knew was that his heart hurt, and not in the pleasant way it did when he thought about kittens or his Lady. He didn’t want to worry Marinette or Ladybug, and he’d been taught by his father to avoid emotional outbursts so he couldn’t act how he was feeling in front of any civilians either. His father just didn’t want to give people something to talk about, because being in the public eye -now as Chat as well as Adrien- could result in cruel speculations being thrown around. And he simply didn’t want Adrien to have to deal with the trashier tabloids telling anyone who would listen that he was emotionally unstable in some way. He just wanted to protect him. But then so did Marinette, as she’d proved with her little press conference. And she wanted people to think about how he felt. That had been part of the way she’d gotten everyone to stop harassing him – by highlighting that he had feelings like everyone else.

When he saw her put down her embroidery hoop and open her arms for him he was already moving towards her before he realised he had even stood up from the table. “What about your sewing?” he asked her, stopping just short of the lounge chair and glancing at the surprisingly empty hoop she had discarded.

“I haven’t made a single stitch yet,” she said, gesturing with her arms for him to keep moving, “I’m still waiting on some inspiration. Come hug me, it might help.”

He could see her smile as he gave in, crawling up the chair and resting his head against her shoulder as her hands instantly sank into his hair and scratched gently but firmly. He brought his arm around her and slid it beneath her back, his other arm circling her from the other side to trap them together in their comfort. Looking up at her, he could see the warmth in her eyes as she looked over him contentedly.

Marinette watched in peaceful puzzlement as Chat held eye contact with her, almost as if he had a purpose until his eyes very slowly started to slide closed, reopening a moment later to continue looking at her in wonder. Marinette gave him a lopsided smile and raised an eyebrow, ready to ask him what that had been all about when his eyes closed again – this time remaining closed as he started to nuzzle her shoulder and purr.


End file.
